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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24861262">Orion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbowraptor/pseuds/Rainbowraptor'>Rainbowraptor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ZaDr Week Summer 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Invader Zim</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:28:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24861262</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbowraptor/pseuds/Rainbowraptor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tallest Dib explains constellations to Tallest Zim.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>ZaDr Week Summer 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798783</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Orion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Short bit of fluff with some angst worked in. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Zim doesn't understand, what do you mean, constellations? There's no such thing, Zim knows everything about the universe and I've never heard about constellations." Tallest Zim was staring out over the Supermassives' bridge to the endless sea of stars. He studied each one, trying his best to see what Tallest Dib saw.</p><p>Nothing but the stars, planets, a pod of Mobiusfliers (massive beings Tallest Dib liked to call space whales for some incomprehensible reason), and, of course, many, many various spacecraft that made up their large fleet. </p><p>But not one of these <em> constellations </em>.</p><p>"How in the world are you from outer space and not know what constellations are?" Tallest Dib said, swinging his chair around and opening up a hologram above him. The blue display was translucent and fit over a part of the bridges' view out. "Look." He dragged a finger across it, connected many stars, turning them into points. As Tallest Zim watched, Tallest Dib drew what looked to Tallest Zim like a mass of pointless lines. "That's what we Earthlings call Orion."</p><p>Tallest Zim twitched an antenna and squinted an eye. "Why?”</p><p>Tallest Dib waved his arms up and down, "Don't you see it?” He went over the lines again, this time with green and a bit more detail.</p><p>Now, Tallest Zim made out a stick figure human figure armed with a shield and a club.</p><p>"You know when we were still back on Earth?" Tallest Dib began.</p><p>"Ahh, yes-" Zim chuckled. "I once turned you into sandwich meat. Good times." Those days seemed so far behind now. How many centuries had it been? Tallest Zim couldn’t say, his PAK still wasn’t good at keeping time, even after all the upgrades.</p><p>Tallest Dib scoffed. "Oh man, we were idiots back then. We turned each other into bologna." He shook his head, "No, I'm talking about a time AFTER we were both trying to kill each other. That day we looked at the sky and imagined shapes? You told me that one cloud was like a huge donut and then it turned out to <em> actually </em> be a flying donut from one of your weird experiments? Well humans did that with stars."</p><p>"Made flying donuts?" Tallest Zim asked.</p><p>Dib rolled his eyes. "No, looked at stars and made stories about them."</p><p>Zim remembered. That cool afternoon after highskool, finding Dib laying in the grass on some hill. He had sat beside the human for a bit, putting up with itchy leaves, the annoying insects crawling up his legs, then finally laying down by the human. They'd scanned the blue skies until pink and purple hues crept in, chatting about Dib's dad and Zim's Tallest. Zim had reached for Dib’s hand...</p><p>Tallest Zim laughed. "That's so, so<em> silly </em>. Why do that? Why not simply go out and conquer those stars?"</p><p>"It helped us navigate." Explained Tallest Dib. "We can't all be able to have an impeccable sense of direction like your kind." He said. "Plus, we were too busy trying to dodge saber-tooth tigers and find food to eat. Can’t exactly conquer a distant star with a spear and some nets."</p><p>Tallest Zim felt as if, as he often did, that he was being mocked but ignored it. "Why yes, Zim guesses that's true." He looked at the "constellation" on Dib's display. The human was excited over it so Zim sat on one armrest and leaned over Dib. "You said there was a story to them?"</p><p>Tallest Dib looked up at Zim, "I thought it was stupid."</p><p>"Tell Zim." Tallest Zim ordered, trying his best not to yell. </p><p>Tallest Dib had a smug grin. "I dunno, I don't think I remember it…"</p><p>Tallest Zim head butted Dib gently, pulling himself to sit in Dib’s lap. "Dib," he huffed, "Tell. Zim. The. Story."</p><p>"Orion was a hunter, the greatest hunter on Earth." Dib began.</p><p>"Hah, Zim could've easily-" Zim found issue with a mere human being more capable than even the average sea lion, especially a primitive human who couldn’t even journey to the closest star to plant a flag.</p><p>"You asked for the story sooooo, you gonna listen or do I need to go order a complete reduction in sugar production in section 8?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>"Fine, yes, best human at killing things, continue." Zim snarked and silently asked himself why he gave Tallest Dib domain over the best sugar sector.</p><p>"He said he was the best hunter of all time and that he could kill all of the animals of the world. A goddess named Gia got pissed at this threat and sent a big ass scorpion to kill him." Dib explained.</p><p>"And so the scorpion stung the stupid human and turned his bowels to jelly?" Zim said. Clearly, that was the only way the story could end.</p><p>"No, actually...Orion shot arrows at the scorpion but they didn't work. So he jumped into the sea to get away." Dib said.</p><p>Zim laughed. "Oh, coward!"</p><p>Dib laughed too. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I guess he hid out there for a bit, out in the water, until Gia called Apollo, another god, to kill him. Apollo basically said ‘Nope, I can't do it but my sister can, she's good at killing people.’ Problem was, Artemis was good pals with Orion, the two both being hunters, so Apollo had to trick Artemis into killing Orion saying that he was evil-"</p><p>"If they are gods, why don't they just drink the sea or send a shark to eat Orion?" Zim asked. "A good hurricane would also tear his pathetic sorry meaty self apart."</p><p>"I don't know, clearly near starvation has an effect on creativity. Alright, so Artemis easily made the shot. She went down to get the body and found out what she'd done, who she'd killed. Artemis freaked out, demanded the gods to bring him back to life but no one wanted to do it. Instead, she hurled him into the sky so he could become these stars." Dib points at the constellation again, gazing at it with affection. "That way, whenever she wanted too, she could look at him."</p><p>Zim ran a claw over the weird stick figure man. His laughter and feeling of mirth gone at this ending. A spike of cold emotions seethed from his pack to the back of his skull, then settled around somewhere in his chest. </p><p>Dib was still talking. "A ton of the constellations are like that. A person or animal dies and the gods get sad so they turn their bodies into stars."</p><p>Tallest Zim memorized, as he has done many times before, every inch of Tallest Dib, the small scratch in the left lens of his glasses, the scattering of faint scars on his arms, every single hair, all the features. He listened as Tallest Dib talked about various constellations, the stars that make them up, and he curled his arms around Dib's waist. </p><p>"Stupid humans." Zim said. "Stupid gods."</p><p>Dib is surely rolling his eyes, his wonderful amber eyes. Or maybe not. His voice is suddenly sad and a little distant. "Yeah well, it helped them remember. The people remember I mean, how to find themselves when they were lost. Stars were a big help." Dib pauses. “Still are.”</p><p>Zim wondered if Dib was thinking about all the humans now long dead. Professor Membrane being one of them. Dib and Gaz would’ve also been dead if Zim hadn’t…</p><p>Tallest Zim places a claw on Tallest Dib’s PAK, it glows a faint blue. He embraces his Dib a little tighter. Zim thinks that, if Dib were to die, rather than turn Dib's body into some weird reminder of his human, in the event that he couldn’t bring back his love from the jaws of death, Tallest Zim would simply hold Dib just like this and then fling them both <em> into </em> the nearest star. </p><p>This, Tallest Zim understands.</p><p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For ZaDr week, stargazing prompt. Love y'all 🌈</p></blockquote></div></div>
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